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Whether they like themor not, seven in 10 office-based physicians now use EHRs, according to data from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. A smaller number (40 percent) report having an EHR system that meets the requirements of a basic system, but that’s nearly the rate at which acute care hospitals have reported establishing a basic EHR system (44 percent).

Interoperability and disruption of face time between physicians and patients are a few of the EHR hassles still being teased out, but physicians are finding them beneficial in accessing patient charts remotely, alerting potential medication errors and alerting critical lab values. See how EHR use today compares to 2009 in a new graphic from HealthIT.gov.

And, despite reports that electronic health record adoption is lagging in rural areas, HealthIT.gov says more than 60 percent of rural primary care providers are working toward meaningful use. As a whole, two-thirds of office-based primary care physicians have applied, or intend to apply, for meaningful use.

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By Deanna Pogorelc MedCity News

Deanna Pogorelc is a Cleveland-based reporter who writes obsessively about life science startups across the country, looking to technology transfer offices, startup incubators and investment funds to see what’s next in healthcare. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Ball State University and previously covered business and education for a northeast Indiana newspaper.More posts by Author